Apparatus for winding material



J ly 12, 1938.

E. E. FRANZ APPARATUS FOR WINDING .MATERIAL Filed Feb. 9, 1955 2 3Sheets-Sheet 1 I Wm INVENTOR E. E. FRANZ 5R 9104411444 Jul 12, 1938.

' E. E. FRANZ 2,123,238

APPARATUS FOR WINDING MATERIAL Filed Feb. 9, 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet 2ATTORNEY E. E. FRANZ APPARATUS FOR WINDING MATERIAL ,nlly 12, 1938.

Filed Feb. 9, 1955 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 FIG. 7.

FIG. 6'.

INVENTOR E. E. FRANZ A TTORNEY Patented July 12, 1938 uurrso srA'rEsPATENT @FFEQE APPARATUS FOR WINDING MATERIAL Application February 9,1935, Serial No. 5,743

3 Claims.

This invention relates to a method of and apparatus for winding materialand more particularly to a method of and apparatus for applying strandmaterial and sheet material upon an article or core at one operation inalternate layers.

In the art pertaining to electrical cells, there is a class or varietyof coil having a core of either solid or axially hollow form and ofeither magnetic or non-magnetic material in which an insulatedelectrically conductive strand is wound in concentric layers back andforth over the peripheral surface of thecore, which peripheral surfacemay be cylindrical in some instances or prismatic in others. In suchcoils it may be desirable to place further insulation betweenconsecutive helically wound layers of the conductive strand, in the formof sheets of paper or other insulating substance, and ordinarily eachsuch sheet is so dimensioned and applied that its extremities overlapeach other to form a completely closed cylindrical or prismatic surfacebetween two complete layers of conductor.

An object of the present invention is to provide a simple method andeffectively operating apparatus which may be applied to the manufactureof articles having layers of strand con ductor and of insulating sheetmaterial.

One embodiment of the invention contemplates a method and substantiallyautomatically operating apparatus therefor provided with means to holdan article such as a coil core, means to hold a supply of sheet materialand of strand material, and means to apply the sheet material and thestrand to the core or other article in alternate layers, the strandbeing applied by a. continuous winding operation and the sheet being cutto appropriate lengths and applied intermittently by a pneumatic deviceover each completed layer of strand, together with means to distributethe strand and means to modify the length of successive sheets ofmaterial to be intercalated between strand layers to conform to thechanging peripheral size.

Other objects and features of the invention will appear from thefollowing detailed description of one embodiment thereof taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings in which like referencenumerals are applied to identical parts in the several figures and inwhich Fig. 1 is a broken schematic view in side elevation of a machineconstructed in accordance with the invention and adapted to windinsulated wire and paper sheets in alternating layers upon a prismaticcore;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged broken detail view in section on the line 22 ofFig. 3;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged broken detail view in transverse section of aportion of a core being wound in the machine;

Fig. 4 is a broken schematic view in plan corresponding to Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged detached perspective view of one of the air blasthousing sections;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged broken detail view of the device to control andmodify the lengths of pa r;

Fig. 7 is a section on the line l'l of Fig. 6; Fig. 8 is an enlargedbroken section on the line 8-8 of Fig. 6, with the cover plate omitted;

Fig. 9 is an enlarged detached perspective view of the ratchet sleeveshown in Figs. 6 and 8, and

Fig. 10 is an enlarged broken section on the line lfl-lil of Fig. 6.

In the embodiment herein disclosed, a core driving belt 20 runs over adriving drum 2i rotatably mounted in fixed position and driven by a belt22 from a motor 23. The belt 2 runs also over a fixedly positioned idlerdrum 2i and over a tensioning drum 25 whose shaft 26 is supported on andurged upwardly by resilient means such as a compression spring 27.

A shaft or spindle 28 is mounted as shown to lie parallel to the surfaceof the belt and is adapted to receive and support a coil core 29 forwinding insulated wire 3i) and paper sheet 0 insulation 3! thereon, thewire being drawn as required from a supply reel 32 and the paper from asupply drum 33 each appropriately supported and mounted in the relativepositions shown. The drum 33 and reel 32 will be provided with customarymeans (not shown) to afford tension on the material being drawntherefrom.

The belt 2i] runs against the under face of the core 3 or of the wireand/or paper wound thereon and thus drives the core and therewith theshaft 28 in rotation. A distribution control rod 34 oriented parallel tothe shaft 28 is mounted to slide freely longitudinally in a pair ofsupports 35 supported as hereinafter described, and the rod is providedsubstantially midway of its length with a transverse perforation 36which fits loosely about the strand 3U threaded therethrough. Stops iiare rigidly positioned in line with the ends of the rod and are sospaced that when a complete layer of strand is laid on the core the rodcarried along by the strand will bump against one or other of the stopsand by its slight rebound therefrom will start the strand to coil in areverse direction, the distribution of the strand in snugly abuttingturns during the winding being generally effected as indicated in Fig. 2by the yielding pressure of the belt 29 in both lateral and radialdirections against the portion of strand momentarily being wound.

The shaft 28 carries at its farther end a gear 38 meshing with anothergear 39 mounted on a shaft 40 below and parallel to the shaft 28. Cams4| and 42 are mounted on the near and far portions respectively of theshaft 49. Cam 4| actuates a lever 43 pivoted on any convenient supportsuch as the shaft of the idler drum 24. Cam 42 actuates a similar lever44 similarly pivotally mounted.

A continuous sheet of paper 3| or other analogous material, is drawnfrom the storage or supply roller 33 and passes over an intermittentlyactuated measuring roller 45 and under a complementary freely rotatableroller 45 mounted on a shaft 41 and urged toward the roller 49 bygravity or, as shown, by springs 48. Two parallel actuating levers 59and 5| are secured rigidly at one end to a collar 63 surrounding theshaft 49 on which latter the roller 45 is rigidly mounted. The otherends of the levers are held spaced apart in a yoke 52. The lever 5| isformed externally from end to end with a left hand screw thread 58.

A pawl block 53 is positioned to embrace the lever 50 between a pair ofspaced integral arms 54 on one end of the block, while the block has abore 55 near its other end to receive the lever 5|. The lever 59 is ofrectangular cross section and the arms 54 are spaced from the lever toallow the block limited rotational motion about the lever 5|. Amicrometer adjusting screw 51 may be mounted in one of the arms 54 asshown to adjust the amplitude of the rotation permitted to the block 53on the lever 5|.

The bore 55 has three cylindrical portions of different diameters, ofwhich the narrowest is at the bottom and provides clearance only for thelever 5| and an upwardly facing annular shelf on which rests acylindrical ratchet sleeve 69 formed internally with a screw thread 59complementary to and engaged with the thread 58 of the lever 5|. Thesleeve 69 is housed in the middle portion of the bore 55 which is ofintermediate diameter, and the sleeve projects at its upper end up intothe top and widest portion of the bore which forms an annular recess inthe block 53 about the ratchet sleeve. In this recess is positioned aplurality of spring pressed pawls 6| mounted on the block 53 to coactwith the teeth 62 of the sleeve. A cover plate I99 (omitted in Fig. '7)secured with screws to the top of the block 53 is abutted on its underside by the top end of the sleeve 69 and thus retains the latter withinthe block. The cover plate I99 is formed with a plurality of clearanceslots 95 (Fig. 10) through which a plurality of vertical pins 93 extendwhich are rigidly secured in a knurled collar 91 positioned looselyaround the lever 5|. Each pin 96 extends down behind a correspondingpawl 6| and the collar 91 may be rotated manually to lift and hold thepawls temporarily out of engagement with the ratchet sleeve 69 whereuponthe block 53 may be adjusted to any desired position on the levers, thelever 59 being graduated if desired as at 98.

The collar 63 to which the upper ends of the levers 59 and 5| aresecured houses a one way clutch of any convenient construction but hereshown as comprising a ratchet sleeve 64 keyed to the shaft 49 and aplurality of rollers 55 interposed between the smoothly cylindricalinner wall of the collar and the teeth of the ratchet.

A pull rod 59 is secured at one end by a ball joint generally indicatedat 61 to the cover plate and thus to the pawl block 53. Any effectiveuniversal joint might be used in place of the ball joint and since theconstruction of the joint is not material to the invention beyond havinguniversal pivotal motion it is unnecessary to describe it in detail. Theother end of the pull rod is pivotally secured to a stud 68 mounted onthe side of a gear wheel 69 which meshes with and is driven by a gear 19on the shaft of the motor 23.

The sheet of paper 3| emerging from between the rollers 45 and 48 passesover a narrow supporting table ll the left hand edge of which forms thefixed blade of a shearing device of which the movable member 12 is theother blade. The near end of the blade 12 is pivoted to the table, and alink T3 is pivotally attached at one end thereof to one arm of a lever74 the other end of which is provided with an offset stud 15 carrying inwhich is mounted an adjustment screw I9 the head of which rests on thelever 44 to be lifted thereby.

The paper 3| after passing the shears H, 12 is received within an airblast housing 11 whose base faces the shares and whose nose 18 pointstoward the point of application of the strand 30 to the winding on thecore 29. This housing consists of two substantially identicalcomplementary sections 19 and 89 and a description of either will applyequally to both. Thus the section 80 (Fig. 5) may be a solid block ofmetal formed on the surface which is applied to the section 79 with atransverse rearwardly sloping entrance ramp 8| leading to acomparatively large recess 82 from the forward side of which a pluralityof relatively wide parallel air grooves 83 separated by narrow paperguides 84 extend through the nose portion. One or more passages 85communicate from the recess 82 to an air duct 89 encircling the wholehousing. The paper guides 84 may preferably be slightly beveled at theirupper or rear ends to facilitate the passage of the paper thereover,there being a narrow space between the guides 84 of the block 89 and thecorrespondingly positioned guides of the superimposed block 19. Amovable gate normally closes the outlet of the nose I8 and comprises afiat bar 81 carried at either end on pins 88 upstanding from atransverse rod 89 resting on a transverse member 99 carried by a leverarm 9| and extending beyond the same to support an adjustment screw 92whose head rests on the lever 43.

The lever 9| is pivoted by an integral collar 93 on the inlet of the airduct 86 and their actuates a valve (not shown) within the collar whichcontrols the admission of compressed air from a source not shown througha pipe 94 to the air duct 86.

In operation a roll of strand is placed at 32, a roll of paper at 33 anda core 29 to be wound is placed on the spindle 28. The strand 30 isbrought through the hole in the rod 34 and secured to the core at oneend of the lateral peripheral surface thereof. The paper is broughtbetween the rollers 45 and 49 and over the table II until its previouslysquared end matches against the shear blade edge of the table. The block54 is set at a predetermined point on the levers 50 and 5| to give apredetermined initial amplitude to the swing of the levers and theadjustment is set to allow the block 53 a predetermined amplitude ofswing on the lever M. The various driving gears and other interrelatedparts and mechanisms are so proportioned and arranged that the sequenceor cycle of operations and events now to be described will ensue inproper order and rela tion.

The motor 23 is then started, driving the drum 2| and with it the beltZil, which, running against the under side of the core 29 and againstthe strand 3i] thereon, rotates the core to wind the strand thereon andsimultaneously forces each turn of the winding to lie snugly andsmoothly against the previous turn as indicated in Fig. 2.

The core contemplated in the present disclosure is one in the form of aspool having a central drum of substantially square cross-section andenlarged parallel transverse heads. Hence the radius of the part of thecore against the belt varies, and therefore the drum 25 is yieldinglymounted to allow the belt to accommodate itself to the core in allpositions. When one layer of winding is completed the head of the corecompels the first turn of the next layer to lie upon the last turn ofthe preceding layer and the rod 36 bumping against one of the stops illand rebounding slightly brings the second turn out beside the first thusstarting the winding of the second layer in the opposite direction tothe first.

The gear 33, driven by the core on the spindle Z8, drives the gear litand hence the cams ii and 42. A sheet of paper of suitable length,prepared as hereinafter described, is at this time lying in the housingll against the gate 8'5. At the moment when the last turn of a windingis completed, the cam 46 lifts the lever 43, the screw $2 and the leverat opening the air valve within the collar 93. Compressed air from theduct 96 enters the housing both above and below the sheet of paperthrough the duct 85, chamber 82 and grooves 83. The sheet is blownforward until its forward edge. is caught by the incipient first turn ofthe next layer of winding and is rolled around the preceding layer ofwinding by the belt 2!! and is covered by the succeeding layer, thesheet being of such length as to wrap once around with a slight overlap.The lever ill in rising carries the bar 90 with it forcing the pins 8%;and the paper stop 81 up to allow the paper to be blown out of thehousing Tl. The cam ll immediately drops the lever 9!, cutting off thesupply of air and bringing the paper stop 81 back over the outlet of thehousing.

Evidently each layer of the winding is of greater circumference than thepreceding layer and requires a longer sheet of paper to wrap around it.The length of each sheet is determined by the action of the paper feedroller G5 which is driven step by step by the levers b ll and Si.Counterclockwise motion of the levers is transmitted to the rollerthrough the clutch shown in Fig. 7, whereas contrary motion of thelevers is not. Each stroke of the levers steps the paper forward betweenthe rollers 55 and at by a distance which depends on the length fromshaft 49 to block 53 this length being manually adjustable to apredetermined initial value as described above. The ratio of the gears69 and lil is such in relation to the drive of the core by the belt 29that during the winding of a layer of strand on the core, the paper willbe stepped forward to pass just enough through the shear ll, V2 for thenext wrap. The pull rod 66 in addition to swinging the levers 5t and 5|to and fro, also swings the block 53 on the lever 5|. At each forwardthrust of the rod, the

pawls 6i catch and rotate the ratchet sleeve 60, while on the returnstroke of the rod the pawls slide idly over the ratchets. Thus theratchet sleeve is forced step by step to climb the threaded lever 55which, in effect, shortens the length of the levers 5i] and 5t, sincethe block 53 moves up with the. sleeve. The amplitude of swing of thelevers 5i] and 5! is thus automatically and gradually increased and sothe length of paper fed through the shears is greater each time. Therate of this increase is roughly adjustable by altering the number ofstrokes between shearings by changing the gears 69 and it], or bychanging the lever 5i and sleeve 60 for others of different threadpitch, and is finely adjustable by means of the graduated screw 51.

When the predetermined length of paper has been fed through the shears,the cam 42 lifts the lever 44 pulling the shear blade 72 down to cut thepaper off, and the latter slides down by gravity between the guides 84and rests a ainst the gate Bl ready for another cycle of operation asdescribed.

Thus the apparatus winds strand on a core in successive helically woundlayers as a continuous operation, and at the same time measures out,cuts ofi, and inserts pieces of sheet material, of predetermined andpredeterminedly changing lengths, between consecutive layers of strandwinding.

The accompanying drawings are purely schematic, many details notessentially of the invention being omitted as familiar to those skilledin the art, and the proportions of parts being distorted in someinstances for clearness or compactness. In particular it is to be notedthat the ratio of the gears 38:39 will be dependent upon the number ofturns in each layer of the winding.

It may be pointed out here that an important advantage of the presentinvention is that the pneumatic means therein provided for placing thesheet material on the article, by proper timing of the action thereof,permits the placing of the sheets in position to be caught and wound bythe strand without any necessity of halting or even slowing down thestrand winding mechanism, as is required in some machines of the priorart having mechanical devices for this purpose. Such deceleration andacceleration either makes it necessary to run the machine at a slowaverage pace or else may be the cause of racking the apparatusdestructively, at least so far as its accuracy of operation andparticularly of operative synchronism of functioning is concerned.

It is also to be noted that the pneumatic means is in effect apositively acting means to transport the pieces of sheet material fromthe cutting apparatus to the coil being wound, and has an advantage overany mechanical transfer device in that the pieces of sheet material arenot gripped or otherwise apt to be wrinkled or torn.

Another notable advantage is the simplicity of the means used to placethe strand in snugly abutted coils in each layer of winding and toreverse the winding spiral in successive layers.

There is no complex and delicate distributor mechanism to be driven inswiftly alternated reciprocation. The belt 29, which serves to drive thecore in rotation, is made of laterally flexible and even laterallyslightly elastically extensible construction, and in virtue of thesequalities the belt serves also to guide and seat the wire properly as itis wound on. A belt for this purpose may be made of woven fabric with arubber or similar covering thereover, the strands of the fabric runninglongitudinally of the belt being closely juxtaposed and the transversestrands being relatively widely spaced and loosely interwoven.

Patentable subject matter disclosed but not claimed herein is claimed inone of the following divisional applications, Serial Number 53,957,Serial Number 53,958 Patent No. 2,097,518, Serial Number 53,959 andSerial Number 53,960 all filed by the present inventor on December 11,1935.

The embodiment herein disclosed is illustrative only and may be widelymodified and departed from without departing from the spirit and scopeof the invention as pointed out in and limited solely by the appendedclaims.

What is claimed is:

1. In an apparatus for winding strand material and sheet material uponan article, which apparatus comprises means to hold a supply of strandmaterial, and means to hold a supply of sheet material, means to freelyrotatably hold an article to be wound, a driven belt running against thearticle to rotate the same continuously to wind a plurality of layers ofstrand and of sheet material thereon and to seat the strand thereon inlaterally snugly abutted coils, means to withdraw and cut off successivepieces of sheet material of predetermined length, means to increase thelength of the successive pieces of sheet material to correspond to theincreasing size of the wound article, and pneumatic means to blow thepieces of sheet material into position on the article to be caught andwound thereon by the combined action of the belt and the strand betweensuccessive layers of strand thereon without interference with the strandwinding.

2. In an apparatus for winding strand material and sheet material uponan article, which apparatus comprises means to hold a supply of strandmaterial and means to hold a supply of sheet material; means to drawsuccessive portions of sheet material therefrom of predetermined andpredeterminedly increasing lengths, means to sever the successiveportions of sheet material, means to removably hold an article withfreedom to rotate, means to hold a supply of strand material to be woundon the article, a driven belt running against the article to rotate thesame to wind the sheet material and to Wind and distribute the strand inlaterally snugly abutted coils on the article, in combination withpneumatic means to receive the successive cut portions of sheet materialfrom the sheet severing means and to blow the same edgewise into theangle between the article and the belt and the strand to be caughttherebetween and to be wound on the article by the belt and the strand.

3. In an apparatus for winding strand material and sheet material uponan article, which apparatus comprises means to hold a supply of strandmaterial and means to hold a supply of sheet material; means to drawsuccessive portions of sheet material therefrom of predetermined andpredeterminedly increasing lengths, means to sever the successiveportions of sheet material, means to removably hold an article withfreedom to rotate, means to hold a supply of strand material to be woundon the article, a driven belt running against the article to rotate thesame to wind the sheet material and to wind and distribute the strand inlaterally snugly abutted coils on the article, in combination withpneumatic means to receive the successive cut portions of sheet materialfrom the severing means and to blow the same edgewise into the anglebetween the article and the strand to be caught therebetween and to bewound on the article by the belt and the strand, and means independentof the belt to reverse the spiral of the strand at I the end of eachlayer thereof.

ERWIN E. FRANZ.

